Dealing with the Devil
by green pea soup
Summary: What if Roger found out that Alanna was a girl before she told everyone? What if he blackmailed her to do things for him? But you can't possibly blackmail someone into loving you? Can you? R
1. Her not so secret Secret

Dealing with the Devil

A/n: hello everybody! I'm just trying this story out to see if anyone likes it, so yeah…if you do like it, will you please review? I'm on my knees, begging you, will you PLEASE review? I really need your reviews, so whatever you want to say to me, type it in the reviews! If you really love my story or if you absolutely hate it, please review! Thank you so much!

Summary: What if Roger found out that Alanna was a girl before she told everyone? What if he blackmailed her to do things? But then they start to fall for each other…

Disclaimer: I own nothing everything belongs to my favourite author, Tamora Pierce, well, except for the plot.

Her not so secret Secret 

She was packing her stuff for tomorrow when she would be going off to adventures, when a knock at the door made her stop. She opened the door to find Jon standing there, a forced smile on his face.

"Can I come in, Alanna? I want to talk…"

She nodded and closed the door after him. Sitting on the bed next to him she asked, "What do you want to talk about?"

Jon's fingers cupped her face and he made her look up. "You know very well, what I want to say."

She faced him and a sigh escaped from her lips. "You want to talk about tomorrow when I get dubbed Sir Alan and when I'm going to tell everybody that I'm a girl, right?

He nodded. She continued talking, "There's nothing to talk about really. I'm just going to announce that I'm a girl after your father has dubbed me. Thom will be there to, beside me."

"Yes I know, father will be not pleased. But what about Roger; I know you have your suspicions about him, even though I refuse to believe them."

She met his eyes evenly. "Well, if I have nothing but my suspicions tomorrow, then I will and can't do anything…Unless I have someone to back me up?" she added hopefully.

He ignored the pleading in her eyes and words, and shook his head. "No, I can't do it, Alanna. He's my best friend, my cousin, but really, the brother that I never had."

She looked at him, disappointment written all over her face. She knew it. She knew that he wouldn't something like that. Not even for her…

"I'm sorry, I really am," he said, and went and opened the door.

"Wait, Jon." He stopped and she grabbed him into a passionate embrace. He hugged her back with the same passionate feel and then gently untangled her from himself. Making her look up into his eyes once again, he said, "I love you, Alanna, always have and always will, no matter what happens."

And with that he kissed her; gently, almost timidly, at first then in fiery passion. They broke apart and with a last look at her, Jon departed.

Alanna moved to go back to her packing when a cold voice made her look up.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't Squire _Alanna_. Enjoyed kissing my dear cousin?"

Alanna, shocked by the use of her name by someone unexpected, moved back and nearly toppled onto the floor.

"Roger," she managed to croak.

A/n: Well that's it! But I promise to get more into the story and write a longer chappie, if you will just review my story… Deal or no deal?

Let's just say deal, well, then, go ahead, and press that button on the left hand side.

Please, just do it!


	2. The Deal

The Deal

A/n: hey, thanx for the reviews! And yeah keep them coming! And also, please tell me if this chappie was good, coz I thought it wasn't too good, especially the end!

"Roger," she repeated stupidly.

"That's my name," he replied, and evil gleam in his eyes.

"You – you heard everything?" she demanded. He smirked, turned around and pushed the door to a close. Twisting his beard in his hands, he started to move towards her.

She backed away until she came to the wall. "Don't! Don't come any closer, stay away!"

He stopped a few feet away. "So, you're a girl." It wasn't a question, but she nodded anyway. "Since I know this secret of yours how about I make a deal with you."

"A deal?" Alanna raised her eyebrows, she hadn't expected this.

"Yes, I tell you to sit, you sit, I tell you to stand, you stand and if you're a good girl I won't blab your secret out to anyone."

She thought about it. Sure it was a deal with the devil, but there wasn't much of the night left and if she stayed close to Jon and the others he couldn't ask her to do anything outrageous. Besides she didn't have much of a choice.

"So, it is deal or no deal, Alanna?" he asked.

"Deal." Just as she had finished the word he moved in front of her in three quick strides and planted his lips on hers.

Her eyes widened as it began to sink in, but she still had enough sense in her to do something. Alanna pushed away and raised a hand to land a wild punch. But he was too fast for her; Roger caught her hand and yanked it upwards, pressing it against the stone wall behind her.

He breathed into her ear. "Now you can't back out. We've sealed the deal with a kiss."

"The kiss means nothing and I never thought of backing out anyway!" she spat back.

'Well, let's just say I'm a careful man then." He let go of her hand and began twisting his beard again. "Now what shall a tell you to do…"

"Can I punch you?" she asked innocently.

Roger raised an eyebrow and gave a small chuckle before speaking again. "You're not shooting daggers at me just because of that little kiss, are you?

"Yes, but there's also the fact that I absolutely loathe you," she hissed back.

"Really? Well that explains it all," he said, word dripping with sarcasm. "All right then how about this, I want you too –" He stopped abruptly and shook his head. "No it would be too difficult for you…"

"What is it?" _Nothing was that difficult that she couldn't do, right?_

"No never mind. You wouldn't be able to do it," he smiled sweetly at her and started to twiddle his fingers.

Alanna sighed and moved to sit on the edge of her bed, leaving Roger to stand and stare. "Roger I know what you're doing, you know. Trying to light some fire under my ego isn't going to work."

He swept up to her and inclined his head towards the bed. "May I?"

She looked and felt uneasy, but let him sit next to her. "What is it you want me to do?" she asked after a few moments of silence.

"He faced her and was suddenly serious. "I want you to kill my uncle."

A/n: do u think that was a right choice coz I didn't. the end is a good or bad choice, please tell me and review!


	3. The Horror Begins

The Horror Begins

A/n: oh me gosh! It's been so long since I've updated! I'll just keep it short, sorry, life's been hectic…so many assignments… Anyways, on with the fic…

"Uncle? As in King Roald?" Alanna stared at Roger, her mouth agape. "You're joking, right?"

Roger shook his head, a smirk on his handsome face, and said in an amused way, "What makes you think I'm joking?"

"B-because you're telling me to kill an actual person! And, let's not forget that_ person _is my king and father to Jon!" No longer able to contain herself, Alanna stood up and went and yanked open the door. She held it open for him. "You're no longer welcome here, Roger. Just go."

He surveyed her under narrowed eyes, but made the decision to stand up and move towards the door. He was about to step over the threshold when he abruptly swivelled to face her. He leant close and hissed into her ear, "You never had trouble killing people in the past, why should you have trouble this time? We made a deal, remember? You can't back out like this!"

She took a step back so that they were facing each other again. She forced a smile and said pleasantly, "Yes, true, I have taken lives in the past but I've always tried to _avoid _such events from happening, unlike _some people_ who _look_ for a chance to murder someone. And backing out of the deal? The thought never crossed my mind." She was beginning to get tired of his threats and all she wanted to do was be left alone so she added in quite forced reassurance, "Roger, the deal in still on, you can still order me around to do whatever you want me to do and I will obey," they were now nose-to-nose, barely a inch away from each other, "but I refuse to kill anyone, especially Roald."

He smiled menacingly and said in a low voice, "Swear?"

She nodded, without hesitation.

Still smiling, he said, "Good." And grabbed both her shoulders, pulling her lips to his.

Inside Alanna's head everything was becoming more complicated by the moment. In front of her was a man that had just threatened to kill her king and here he was now, with his lips on hers. Not that she wasn't enjoying herself a _little_…

At first Alanna didn't know how to respond, but when it finally hit her, instead of pushing back and giving him a piece of her, she started kissing back. Her lips were now on fire and that wasn't the only part of her burning; heat was rising into Alanna's cheeks and her hands, which were being pressed to her sides by Mr. Bad Boy, were starting to sweat.

Finally she managed to wriggle her arms out of his strong, but gentle, grip and pushed him away. She backed up until she felt the cool stone wall behind her, and leant against it, catching her breath, fighting the urge to slide down and burying her head in her hands.

For a few moments, she just stood there, but then she managed to pluck up enough courage to face him, and spat out three words that were dripping with poison, "I hate you."

Roger, his breathing too uneven, didn't reply back, instead, he gave her a meaningful look, which she couldn't make out, before sweeping out of the room.

Once his footsteps died away, Alanna heaved a big sigh of relief. She made her way back to her bed, stumbling slightly, and plonked herself on it; refusing to ponder on any of the matters at hand until tomorrow.

♀♂♀♂

Striding back to his lair in a quick pace, and at the same time running his fingers through his smooth locks, Roger fumed to himself and ran all the possible options through his head.

He had anticipated that that wretch would refuse his order and, luckily, had prepared a back-up plan.

But what he hadn't anticipated was her reaction to his kissing. In fact, Roger hadn't even planned on kissing her, but she had just looked so beautiful at that moment, with the torches throwing shadows across her face and her lips in a sulky pout. And it was as if for the first time, since they had met, Roger had noticed how beautiful Alanna actually looked.

But pretty or not, she would pay…

And at that thought he smiled to himself.

♀♂♀♂

Awaken by the twittering of birds, a groaning Alanna swung her legs down over the side of her bed and began staggering towards the water basin.

As she dressed, all at once last night's events began flooding back to her. And she cursed herself for being so stupid the previous night.

Just as she had slipped on her tunic, a knock came from the door. A knock that soon became an impatiently loud pounding. By the time she got to the door, Alanna was sure it would collapse on her, but she wrenched it open anyway, to find a wide-eyed and slightly ruffled Raoul.

He grabbed Alanna's shoulders and began shaking them, hard. As if to clear her mind from something and not his own. But regardless from the constant blurring in her eyesight, she could see the panic in his eyes.

Then the words began tumbling out.

"Roald, h-he, oh it's terrible. J-Jon's devastated, Lianne's too. Come quickly Myer's will explain properly."

Raoul grabbed one of Alanna's arms and began pulling the dumb stricken her towards the Chapel. Alanna barely paid any attention as Raoul muttered to himself and pulled her down the corridors and stairs; she was running all the possibilities through her head.

_Roald? Jon devastated? Oh no! H-he couldn't have, he wouldn't dare! Or would he? Who are you kidding, Alanna, of course he would! Argh! Roger, when I find you, you are a dead–_

She had bumped into Raoul's big frame and was momentarily jostled out of her thoughts. But before she could question him, Raoul said, in a voice that was barely a whisper, "We're here."

A/n: The title for this chappie is so bad… don't u think so? What do u think it should be?

Please review and tell me what u think this chappie's title should be! Yes, this is a cheap trick to get u guys out there to review, but I still hope it works! lol


	4. Roger's Doing

Roger's Doing

A/n: Not much time to update… but this time I did try to update quicker!

Thank you to ALL MY REVIEWERS! U GUYS RULE!

(green pea soup runs around the room in hysterics, squealing)

Disclaimer: I own nothing… blah blah blah… (not being disrespectful or anything)

Ok, on with the story!

Using a slightly shaking hand, Raoul pushed the doors of the Chapel open, to reveal a mournful scene.

Inside were numerous clumps of people all who had tears in their eyes. Men were patting each other's backs gently and women were wailing into each other's shoulders. But although it was quite a scene, Alanna only had eyes for the royal family, all of whom were milling around a small raised platform.

Alanna, closely followed by Raoul, pushed through groups of weeping people before arriving to the platform that was being blocked by some healers they had not noticed before.

A man, who had swollen red eyes from shedding tears, noticed them and turned to face them. It was Gary.

Seeing familiar faces, he wrapped his arms around both Alanna and Raoul and embraced them warmly.

Alanna detached herself from Gary and made him face her. Bracing herself she asked, "What happened? Why is everyone in the state that they are?"

Gary wiped them remaining tears with the back of his hand, and said, after a moment's pause to compose himself, "He's dead, Alanna. He's never coming back. Uncle Roald is dead!"

Although Alanna had suspected it beforehand, having her suspicions confirmed was worse than anything she had ever imagined.

She fell to her knees and the tears began rolling down her cheeks. Roald had been a second father to her and the best king she had even met in her life. And now he was gone. Maybe it was her fault maybe it wasn't, but now, Alanna was in no state to think about such things. Such things came after the shock had passed.

A shadow fell on her and she turned to see the kind face of Sir Myles.

Strong arms wrapped around her as she found herself being supported towards a wooden bench.

'What happened?" she asked, it was barely a whisper.

"Someone poisoned Roald's morning drink; we suspect it might have been someone from the kitchen as nobody else is allowed to go near his food and drinks."

"Oh." Alanna nodded her thanks to Myles and gently slid off the bench in search of Jon. Pushing through groups of people she thought she saw a glimpse of Jon so she started to increase her pace in that direction, oblivious of a man that was walking towards her.

She crashed into him and felt herself falling to the ground when a pair of strong, steady arms caught her. Alanna was about to thank her saviour when she found she was looking up into a pair of riveting blue eyes.

"Roger," she breathed. Alanna quickly untangled herself from Roger's hold and pushed past him savagely; completely ignoring him.

She would confront him later; now what she had to do was find Jon. Finally she reached the platform and found at the head of it, Jon on his knees crying into his dead father's chest. The healers were trying to soothe him and move him away so that they could examine the corpse but Jon wouldn't budge for anyone.

Alanna saw Lianne weeping into Sir Gareth's shoulder, but right now she only had eyes for the body of her King.

She moved behind Jon and closed her eyes to stop her tears of sorrow from flowing. A healer made a move to shoo her away, but she glared at him with so much menace that he quickly moved away. Shutting out the rest of the world Alanna said a prayer in her head; blessing Roald a safe journey with the Dark God.

When she opened her eyes she found that Jon was looking at her with his bright blue eyes. For a moment she thought she was looking at Roger again, thinking of her encounter with him just then, she blushed. But then, collecting herself, she realised that Jon was talking to her.

"He's gone forever, Alan," he whispered, not noticing the sudden flush of colour in her face. "Forever."

Alanna gave him a small smile of encouragement and slung an arm around his shoulder, murmuring words of sympathy. "You might not be able to see him, Jon. But he'll always be here with us. Always."

Jon smiled warmly for the first time and not for the first time wondered how he had got to fall in love with this amazing woman.

Alanna smiled back; grateful that she had finally cleared her lover's mind of any grave thoughts, for the time being. But although she had managed to cheer Jon up, she herself, on the contrary, was in a very foul mood.

And the root of it was that she had no doubt that it was Roger's doing, poisoning the drink, regardless of who everyone else suspected.

A/n: Do u agree with Alanna? A review expressing your opinions would absolutely make my day! (hint hint nudge nudge) And oh, before I forget, I need to ask you guys somefink… do u peeps out there like this story as a AR story or would you prefer it to be some other pairing? Just wondering…

Please include your answers in your review! Please!

Gosh…! If u guys don't review then I'll be devastated and then I'll think the reason why nobody is reviewing is because I'm a bad writer and if I think I I'm a bad writer then I'll never write again! Uh oh…


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